AFRICA

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s main rivals were at loggerheads Friday over who will control the country’s 10 internal states, an issue that analysts and diplomats worried could jeopardise a power-sharing deal reached earlier this year. President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar, old foes whose fallout in 2013 sparked civil …

Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s top court on Friday rejected President Peter Mutharika’s bid to overturn a landmark ruling quashing his controversial re-election, paving the way for a rerun in July. Mutharika had garnered just 38.5 percent of the annulled May 21 vote to win a second term but the …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Top artists from across Africa and throughout the African Diaspora have joined forces with UNESCO, to save lives and counter misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are creating public service announcements, songs and music videos as part of an online campaign called #DontGoViral which has …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The World Health Organization on Thursday advised governments to clinically test a herbal drink touted by Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina as a remedy against coronavirus. The Covid-Organics infusion is derived from artemisia — a plant with proven anti-malarial properties — and other indigenous herbs. Rajoelina …

Paris, France | AFP | Africa is the only continent in the world where deforestation is accelerating, according to key findings of a five-year report released Thursday by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In South America, where some countries have been blamed for rampant forest exploitation, the rate of forest loss was …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday sought to ease concerns by Tanzania that the country’s coronavirus test kits were faulty. President John Magufuli on Monday suspended top officials at the country’s national laboratory, after saying he had secretly had animals and fruits …

Paris, France | AFP | As COVID-19 deaths climb ever higher in Europe and the United States, millions of lives are at risk in developing nations where lockdowns and overwhelmed medical systems are disrupting vital testing, vaccination and treatment for other killer diseases. The pandemic has seen unprecedented social distancing measures, …

Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s two main opposition figures on Wednesday presented nomination papers for a re-run in July of elections that saw President Peter Mutharika controversially returned to office. The southern African country made history in February when its top court overturned last year’s vote and called for fresh …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Hakam Ibrahim was seven when, like most Sudanese girls, she became a victim of female genital mutilation — an age-old practice decried as horrific that the post-revolution government is now banning. A mother-of-four in her 40s, Ibrahim vividly recalls the traumatic experience of what remains a …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The DR Congo government warned Tuesday of a “large-scale” spread of the COVID-19 pandemic after around 100 inmates of a military prison tested positive for the virus. “Contamination at the prisons could be a vector of large-scale propagation in our society, especially if it involves the Makala prison because …